Pest & Vermin Management Programs

The MRC manages Pest and Vermin at Tamala Park via our accredited Environmental Monitoring and Management Program (EMMP). There are a number of legal requirements that the MRC must adhere to, one being the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007, land owners have an obligation to control declared pests. Listed below is a short summary of the many management plans for declared pests and vermin:

Rodents/mice/cockroaches

6 weekly servicing on bait traps and surface sprays are undertaken.

Cat Management

Monthly cat trapping occurs in operational area and its surrounding bushland. Cats that are caught are taken to the local vets and checked for microchip (returned home), virus and diseases. If the cat is not feral and has cleared the medical it is sent to the local cat shelter for collection by owner or rehomed.

European House Borer

As MRC receives a lot of pine material, inspection of materials are routinely carried out. Untreated pine is sent straight to lanfill and cannot be recycled.

Millipede Management
After the installation of the 1.08 km galvanised Millipede Barrier, annually winter trapping occurs through shallow solar light ponds. These are generally cleaned out during the winter months.

Myrtle Rust has the potential to be a biosecurity threat the States biodiversity. As such, MRC takes this situation seriously. This fungus (yellow power) infects native plants. The MRC is using the Myrtle bushes at the weighbridge as a sentinels for the rust.
If in the event that Myrtle Rust is detected the Department of Agriculture and food wiil be notified.
For further information click here.

Jarrah Dieback (Phytophthora)

The MRC has two species of Phytophthora on site, one introduced from waste material being disposed of on site. Every two years a monitoring program is undertaken for the checking (containment) and treatment of the affected areas. To date containment has been achieved and the plants are doing well considering the treatment is like a health kick drink every two years. The disease is not curable only treatable. So if you think that your plants may be suffering from or died from phytophthora, please wrap it up (to contain the disease) before disposing of it.
For further information click here.

TAMALA PARK FERAL ANIMAL MANAGEMENT – Update 2015

Problem: In recent times the number of rabbits and foxes found within the Tamala Park site has increased significantly.

Under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007, land owners have an obligation to control declared pests – which include rabbits and foxes – on their property. The MRC is charged with the responsibility of managing 157ha of bushland (fauna and flora) surrounding the waste facility.

Baiting, using the poison 1080, has previously been carried at Tamala Park. However, due to its potential to also affect off target species like crows, wedge tail eagles, Kites (Whistling) and domestic animals, its use was discontinued on site. Many of the off target species can be affected due to them predating and/or feeding on baited rabbits and foxes and off target species thus ingesting the 1080 poison themselves. Use of other bait types (Pindone) have similar consequences and in some cases also pose a risk to native species. Fumigation of warrens is also not practical due to the dense nature of the undergrowth within pest hotspots at Tamala Park.

Proposal: The MRC have considered a number of alternatives and believe a shooting program is the most efficient and measurable approach to deal with this problem and with the least impact on native species. As a result a trial culling program will be conducted during March 2015 at the Tamala Park landfill site.

The trial will be conducted by licenced, accredited shooters within guidelines developed in discussions with the WA Police, the Farmer Assist Program and Conservation Wildlife Branch of WA. A detailed risk assessment has been undertaken and the MRC is satisfied that the trial program does not pose a risk to public safety, nor should it cause any noise disturbance.